Kim is continuing his tour of eastern Russia after his summit with Putin at the Vostochny Cosmodrome.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has accepted an invitation from Kim Jong Un to visit North Korea after the two leaders held their first face-to-face summit in four years.
Kim is in Russia’s far east as Putin looks to reinforce alliances amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine, and as the North Korean leader continues to advance his country’s military modernisation.
He extended the invitation to Putin at “a convenient time” at a reception to mark the end of a day where the two held more than four hours of talks and toured the Vostochny Cosmodrome space centre.
“Putin accepted the invitation with pleasure and reaffirmed his will to invariably carry forward the history and tradition of the Russia-DPRK friendship,” North Korean state news agency KCNA said on Thursday, using the acronym for the country’s official name.
The talks in Russia have raised concern in the United States and elsewhere that Kim might be prepared to sell arms to Moscow for its war in Ukraine, perhaps in exchange for technology that would further his military ambitions.
The North Korean leader is also expected to visit an aircraft factory and travel to Vladivostok where he will view Russia’s Pacific fleet. Kim’s delegation includes his defence minister, his top military commander and the director of the country’s munitions department.
Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, said the members of Kim’s delegation, as well as the location for the summit, were “quite telling” even though no joint statement was issued.
“The composition of Kim’s delegation suggests North Korea may send munitions to Russia in exchange for military technology. Meeting at Russia’s eastern spaceport was equivalent to Putin thumbing his nose at UN Security Council Resolutions,” Easley said in emailed comments. “This should be a wake-up call to all other UN member states about the need to redouble efforts at enforcing sanctions on Pyongyang.”
In its report, KCNA said the two leaders agreed to further strengthen strategic and tactical cooperation in the face of the “military threats, provocations and tyranny of imperialists”.
Putin, meanwhile, praised the “strengthening of cooperation and friendship between our countries” and told reporters he saw “possibilities” for military cooperation with North Korea. Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, who was a guest of honour at events to mark the 70th anniversary of the armistice that ended the fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War, in Pyongyang in July, was also involved in the talks.
